On Wednesday, October 17, the Blue Storm volleyball team traveled to Warrenton, Virginia to play the Highland School Hawks.  This was Highland’s last home game of the season. The Storm had a tough start at first, while the Hawks started off strong by taking an early 7-2 point lead in the first game.  The Hawks’ defense also gave the Storm some trouble at first.  However, after Coach Fleming called the first timeout, the Storm regained its focus and power.  Cree Riley ’08 blocked on the net beautifully after Highland passed the ball right to the net and Riley successfully tipped the ball back to Hawks' half.  Highland fought to get back that point from the Storm by smashing the ball hard to the right front corner, but veteran Kelsie Cubit ’08 bumped up the ball and passed it to Taylor Riley ’10, who drilled the ball effectively back to Hawk’s left deep corner.

With the help of Sara Erlichman, who “aced” five balls, the Storm struggled back from an 18-12 deficit in the first game to tie at 21.  Unfortunately, the Hawks held on and resisted the Storm surge to take the first game 25-22.

Learning from the defeat, the Storm started off strongly in the second game. In that game, our tight defense proved to be the key difference.  There were a number of intense net battles, as Sarah Kolanowski ’10 blocked several Highland tips. Senior Laura Willwerth consistently received the second ball and set it perfectly to the Storm hitters.  And Cree Riley’s tight tips and sharp kills on the net allowed Mercersburg to quickly change from defense to offense.  The Storm even handled a couple of potentially clumsy moments by passing deep-cornered balls back to the Hawks.  That type of hard play propelled the Storm to a 25-21 win to tie the match at 1-1.

With success in the second game, the Storm really controlled the rhythm in the third and the fourth games.  Mercersburg pushed to a 13-7 lead in the third game.  Taylor Riley ’10 helped the team to gain four points in a row with her deep-corned balls. The third game heated up as the score began to tighten.  The frequency of the ball passing between the Storm and the Hawk increased, so that if only one player made a slight mistake, it likely resulted in another point for the opponent.  When it came time for the ‘magic point,’ veteran ace Cree Riley sealed the game by smashing the ball back to the middle of the Hawk’s court.

It takes three games to win a volleyball match, though, and in the last game, the Storm put on an incredible performance.  Kolanowski, Cree Riley and Cubit kept fighting fiercely on the net.  The Storm really went on the offensive, gaining sixteen points in a row.  The Riley sisters loosened the Hawk’s defense while every player in the team held her position tightly to prevent the Hawks from gaining any ground.  The Storm ultimately won the game by a commanding 25-10 score.  After the game, Coach Fleming stated that it took some real determination for the team to win the second game, because after losing the first game, it can be very difficult to regain the momentum, especially when playing away.  With tremendous team spirit, though, the Storm did just that.

-- by student reporter Hang Yu 'Katie' Lam '09